Church Sign Of The Day

(Via JMG reader Bluebard)

Tweet Of The Day - Ruth Buzzi

150 Number Ones For Madonna

As of this week, Madonna has topped Billboard's various charts 150 times. (Times, not weeks.) Leading the list are the 41 songs that have hit #1 on the Dance/Club chart. Of more mainstream interest are her twelve #1 pop singles and her seven #1 pop albums, the latter of which will become eight with next week's #1 debut of MDNA.

The History Of April Fools Day

Or IS it?

REPORT: Rep. Aaron Schock Used Campaign Cash For Lavish Vacations

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL), the "hottie" Congressman, is at the top of a list of federal politicians who used campaign donations to reimburse himself for lavish vacations around the world.

Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a report Friday claiming that a Republican Illinois congressman misused campaign funds for lavish hotels, cash reimbursements for his mother and even exercise programs and equipment. CREW's analysis found that 110 representatives have reimbursed themselves and 69 have reimbursed family members with campaign funding from the 2008 and 2011 election cycles.

Illinois' Rep. Aaron Schock falls squarely in both camps, and was the only legislator from the state to make the top five list of politicians who reimbursed the most money with a $154,466 in payouts from his campaign coffers. According to CREW, that money covered expenses including nearly $50,000 for Schock's own travel, meals and miscellaneous spending during the 2008 election cycle, and more than double that in 2010, including stays at five-star hotels in Athens, Greece and Miami.

Perhaps most notably, Schock reimbursed himself for the cost of a personal training program, an item he specifically opposed for inclusion in the Affordable Care Act.

Secretary Of State Bloomberg?

Late last year Hillary Clinton revealed that she would likely not be staying on for Obama's second term, leading to fevered speculation as to her possible successor. New York's tabloids are floating Mayor Michael Bloomberg for the job.

Hizzoner said Thursday he would consider a role in the President’s cabinet if one is offered — regardless of which candidate wins the White House. “When the President calls and asks you to serve your country, you have to consider it,” the mayor said at a IESE Business School event at The Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. But he’s not headed to Washington just yet. “I have an obligation to the people of New York City,” he said, noting he has 642 days left in his term.

Bloomberg would seem a logical choice, given his decade-long role as host to the United Nations and his personal acquaintance with dozens of major global leaders.

Should Bloomberg be tapped, that could be bad news for openly gay City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the presumptive favorite in the 2013 mayoral race. NYC's second-in-command is Public Advocate Bill De Blasio, who has already signaled his intent to run for mayor. If Bloomberg departs for the Obama cabinet, De Blasio could have almost a year in office before the 2013 vote.

Canada Kills The Penny

But when will America do this?

Canada will withdraw the penny from circulation this year, saving taxpayers about C$11 million ($11 million) annually and forcing retailers to round prices to the nearest nickel, the government announced in its budget today. The Royal Canadian Mint, which has produced 35 billion pennies since it began production in 1908, will cease distribution this fall due to the coin’s low purchasing power. Production and handling cost for the one-cent coin are a C$150- million drag on the economy, according to a 2006 study by Desjardins, a Levis, Quebec-based financial institution.

Millions In Public Money For Ark Project

Americans United for Separation of Church and State are protesting the plan to provide $11M in Kentucky state road improvements to support the Christian theme park where the centerpiece attraction is an alleged replica of Noah's Ark.

"The Highway-36 appropriation is intended to promote and support a religious, evangelical enterprise, violating the separation of church and state and the Kentucky Constitution's prohibitions on government support of religion," said Luchenitser. "The KY-36 road project has only one purpose: to support the construction of the Ark Encounter Theme Park – a proposed biblical theme park that would be in the shape of a full-size replica of Noah's Ark, using the dimensions set forth in the Bible." Chuck Wolfe of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet told CP that the project was necessary given the expected traffic increase courtesy of the Ark Park. "The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is designing a project to accommodate a significant increase in traffic projected for KY 36 in Grant County, northern Kentucky," said Wolfe.

I demand millions of road improvement for MY equally historically true life-size replica of the starship Enterprise. Stop repressing my religious liberty! America was based on the Prime Directive! It's in the BIBLE, people!

RELATED: Last year the state of Kentucky granted over $40M in sales tax rebates to the theme park's developers. The town where the park is located also gave them a 75% discount on property taxes for the next 30 years.

WaPo's Mention Machine

Source.

Johanna Quaas, 86, Gymnast

She even does the parallel bars.

Current TV Fires Keith Olbermann

After months of battling Current TV's owners and management, Keith Olbermann was fired today. The dismissal letter is harsh.

“We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before. Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.”

Olbermann won't even be allowed the dignity of a farewell to his viewers, his slot tonight will be taken by Eliot Spitzer, of all people.

UPDATE: Olbermann says he plans to sue.

I'd like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I've been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt, instead of abiding by their promises and obligations and investing in a quality news program, finally thought it was more economical to try to get out of my contract. It goes almost without saying that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently.

Sigur Rós - Ekki Múkk

From the upcoming album Valtari.

About Those Arrested Cruise Passengers...

This will surely change some opinions.

Still No Winner In NY Senate Election

We still have no declared winner in last week's special election to replace Rikers-bound New York Senator Carl Kruger. As you may recall, NOM invested heavily in the campaign, hoping to claim as their own a victory by marriage opponent David Storobin (above right). NOM's ads declared that it was against Torah law to vote for a Jewish candidate (Lew Fidler) who supports marriage equality.

As it stands today, the entire vote is headed for a hand recount. And as each side has challenged the validity of numerous ballots, each side today issued screams of ethnic discrimination.

NYC Councilman Lew Fidler:

During the course of the day, the Storobin legal team, obviously realizing that more voters had chosen Lew Fidler, began registering challenges to voters who were registered Democrats, senior citizens, and had Jewish surnames. Over three-quarters of Mr. Storobin’s challenges were directed against women. Even allowing for the extraordinary number of Storobin challenges made with no legal basis, Lew Fidler is ahead in the count, and we are confident when the court concludes its review of the contested ballots, Lew Fidler will have more votes and win this election.”

Republican David Storobin:

Unfortunately, my opponent’s campaign has unfairly blocked well more than 100 Russian absentee votes from being counted, for no reason other than the fact that they are Russian. This blatant disenfranchisement cannot and will not stand. We had a solid lead until my opponent unfairly blocked ethnic votes, and I believe that once every valid vote has been counted we will win this election. I have faith that the legal process will work as it should to ensure that the votes that should be counted will be counted, and that in the end I will be the next State Senator from Brooklyn.”

One Million Moms Against Slutty Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

Romney Secretly Donated $10K To NOM

Sam Stein reports at Huffington Post:

When Romney eventually made his donation, he did so quietly, and through an unusual channel. Records filed by Romney's Free and Strong America PAC with the Federal Election Commission did not include details of that $10,000 donation. Nor did NOM's public 990 form. In fact, record of the payment was only uncovered Friday when the pro-gay rights Human Rights Campaign was sent a private IRS filing from NOM via a whistleblower. The Human Rights Campaign shared the filing with The Huffington Post. Asked for comment, an aide to Romney said that the donation was made through the Alabama chapter of the Free and Strong America PAC. State records confirm this. However, the 990 NOM filed lists the donation as having come from PO Box 79226 in Belmont, Massachusetts.

Read the full article.

A Stroke Turned Him Gay

BBC Three interviews the guy who last year claimed that a stroke turned him from straight to gay.

The Bipartisan Vibrator

A fantasy toy from Babeland.

On the Red Channel:
“Oh yeah, baby, just like a filibuster.”
“I’ll make you scream louder than a Fox News talk show host.”
“A little lower please, and I mean lower than a billionaire’s tax rate.”
“Drill, baby, drill.”

On the Blue Channel:
“We can do this together, yes, we can.”
“A little more to the left, oh yeah, there, that’s it.”
“Orgasms for all.”
“Occupy me.”

Board Game For Home-Schoolers

Relive the Crusades! Earn points for every infidel you murder!

Conquer the world---for Christ! This challenging board game tests not only your navigational skills as you travel around the world on mission trips, but also your ability to finance these expeditions by making wise investments. ''Temptation'' and ''Blessing'' squares add to the fun and keep the action going. Everyone can play because no Bible knowledge is required!

(Source)

AFA Poll Of The Day

Results.

Just Added To GLAAD's List

GLAAD has added Pat Robertson and NOM to their list of anti-gay sources that the media should properly vet before airing. Five individuals from NOM are already on the list.

Afternoon View - Garbage Shot

When the folks in my building toss out books and magazines, they sometimes leave such items on top of the cans in case other tenants want them. Today: Edgar Allen Poe, investment strategies, Irish architecture. Also: the 2002 Britney Spears calendar. Score.

Maggie Dismisses Race-Baiting Charge

In an interview just concluded on MSNBC, former NOM head Maggie Gallagher shrugged off charges of race-baiting. Kudos to Thomas Roberts for his opening question: "Maggie, do you continue to defend your own race-baiting to further bigotry and homophobia on a national level?" Video to follow...

UPDATE: Equality Matters has the clip first.

Michelle Duggar: Overpopulation Is A Lie

"Because really, the entire population of the world, if they were stood shoulder to shoulder, could fit in the city limits of Jacksonville. So if you realize that aspect of it, you realize that we're nowhere near being overpopulated. We’ve had other countries coming to our doorstep, asking us to please let their people know that they need to have more children. They are seeing that their death rates are outnumbering their birth rates and they’re in crisis." - Michelle Duggar, speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network.

RELATED: Duggar mentions Jacksonville because it's the largest Florida city by population and the largest in the United States by area. This was accomplished by the 1968 consolidation of Duval County and the city of Jacksonville. Jacksonville is also the 11th largest city in the country by population, another "city limits technicality" that places it ahead of San Francisco, Boston, Washington, and many other better known places.

WISCONSIN: Recall Election Ordered For Union-Busting Gov. Scott Walker

After more than 900,000 petition signatures were submitted, the Wisconsin government has ordered a recall election for Tea Party puppet Gov. Scott Walker.

The Government Accountability Board voted 5-0 to order the recall, a move that has been expected for weeks given the high number of signatures gathered between November and January. It took 540,208 signatures to trigger a recall. Assuming a Democratic primary is necessary, it will be May 8. The actual recall vote then will be June 5. Three Democrats already have announced they are running and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, whom Walker defeated in 2010, has said he would announce his intentions before Tuesday. There have been only two successful gubernatorial recalls in U.S. history, against California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 and North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier in 1921.

Today action was spawned due to Walker's ending of collective bargaining rights for most of Wisconsin's union members. That move triggered massive statewide protests which including the occupation of Wisconsin's state house by furious school teachers and others.

HomoQuotable - John Waters

"When I was young there were beatniks. Hippies. Punks. Gangsters. Now you're a hacktivist. Which I would probably be if I was 20. Shuttin' down MasterCard. But there's no look to that lifestyle! Besides just wearing a bad outfit with bad posture. Has WikiLeaks caused a look? No! I'm mad about that. If your kid comes out of the bedroom and says he just shut down the government, it seems to me he should at least have an outfit for that. Get a look! I'm not judging what they do; I hope they don't shut me down." - John Waters, writing for the Wall Street Journal.

Today's Viral Video

Trending in Twitter's top ten. Sample media tweet: "Drunk suspect sings Bohemian Rhapsody in back of squad car. Nails it." Over a million YouTube hits in 24 hours.

Voters Don't Understand NC Marriage Bill

Public Policy Polling reveals today that many of North Carolina's voters don't understand Amendment 1, which will be voted upon on May 8th.

When voters are informed that the amendment bans both gay marriage and civil unions their tune changes quite a bit. Only 41% of voters say they'll support it knowing that, while 42% are opposed. So despite the large current lead for the amendment, there is some hope for those trying to defeat it. It's just going to take a lot of education and effort over the final six weeks to make sure voters really understand exactly what they're voting on.

Headline Of The Day

Details.

Bachmann: People Don't Buy Insurance Because They Don't Feel Like It

And not because they're poor or uninsurable.

NYC Bans 50 Words From School Tests

The NYC Department of Education is raising eyebrows after issuing a list of 50 words it plans to strike from standardized tests because they are "distracting to segments of the city's diverse student population." Such tests have been criticized over the years for using word problems that are alien to impoverished children, such as questions about silverware settings at the dinner table. Above are just some of the banned words, hit the link for the rest.

Barber: No Evidence Of Anti-Gay Violence

Fred Karger On MSNBC Today

It was openly gay GOP presidential candidate Fred Karger whose legal tangles with NOM led to the unsealing of those devastating documents. Karger writes us this morning:

I am scheduled to be on Thomas Roberts' show today, Friday during the 11:30 am to 12:00 noon segment on MSNBC. I'm being interviewed regarding the recently released explosive NOM documents that came about as a result of the investigation we called for of NOM in Maine. And not confirmed, but am told that I may be appearing along side Maggie Gallagher. Stay tuned.

Karger vs Maggie? Live? I may need a heart pill.

Wingnut Group Denounces Bully Makers For "End Run" Around Rating System

After the MPAA gave Bully an R rating, its filmmakers decided to release the film today without a rating at all. In response, AMC Theatres announced that it would allow children under 17 to see the movie with a parental permission slip. All this has infuriated the Christian "watchdogs" of the entertainment industry, the Parents Television Council.

"They're doing an end-run essentially around the MPAA by encouraging theaters to show unrated movies. And I think they're setting a dangerous precedent that in the future, anytime a studio gets a rating on a movie that they don't like, they can just go ahead and release an unrated version," warns PTC's Melissa Henson. "They [will] have precedent for theaters now showing unrated films." He could have made the necessary edits to the film to secure the lower PG-13 rating so that it would be available to more teens, but he refused to do that," the PTC spokesperson notes. So she concludes this effort is more about the profits than it is about the children.

Rep. Paul Ryan To Endorse Romney

Buzzfeed has the exclusive scoop:

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the icon of the anti-spending movement in the Republican Party, has communicated to former Senator Rick Santorum that he will endorse Mitt Romney, according to a source familiar with the conversation. Ryan's staff called Rick Santorum today as a courtesy to announce the news. The announcement from Ryan himself is expected this weekend, most likely during one of the Sunday shows, the source said — and in the run-up to the Republican primary

The endorsement comes almost immediately after Romney backed Ryan's 2013 budget.

Morning View - Refreshment Dykes

DMV Preaching Case Continues

You may recall the case of the men arrested for refusing to stop preaching to a line of people waiting for a California DMV office to open. The arrests were made last spring and this week a judge refused to dismiss the charges. The preachers have issued a press release. An excerpt:

Initially, when Mr. Mackey was arrested, the CHP officer stated that it was illegal to “preach to a captive audience.“ After the defendants were placed in jail and upon learning that no such penal code prohibits preaching to a ”captive audience,“ the officer issued a citation for ”impeding an open business” with threats or intimidation under Penal Code Section 602.1(b). However, the district attorney again changed the charges claiming trespass after the government realized the business was not actually open and, presumably, saw the video showing no threats or intimidation.

The preachers taped the incident, leading some to believe that the entire event was staged to incite an arrest and thereby create a precedent allowing preaching on government property.

Just In From Pastor Jazz Hands

"Mitt Romney is a Mormon and Barak Obama is a Muslim or something else-but definitely not a Christian. Romney believes in another Jesus, not the Biblical Jesus. Romney's Jesus is a created being, the spirit brother of Lucifer. Romney thinks he will become a God. Christians consider this evil. Jesus is the second Person of the Godhead -- God eternal. Romney's Jesus is a created being, the spirit brother of Lucifer. Romney is in a cult. Americans don't want someone deceived in the White House. God would be angry with Americans for voting for non-Christians." - Pastor Steve "Jazz Hands" Andrew, in this week's press release.

DNC Sings Against Romney & Ryan

Brian Brownshirt Responds To Scandal

"Let me be the first to say that the tone of the language in that document as quoted by the press is inapt. Here's something I know from the bottom of my soul: It would be enormously arrogant for anyone at NOM to believe that we can make or provoke African-American or Latino leaders do anything. The Black and Hispanic Democrats who stand up for marriage do so on principle—and get hit with a wave of vituperative attacks like nothing I have ever seen. We did not cause it, nor can we claim credit for these men and women's courage in standing up in defense of our most fundamental institution: marriage. [snip]

"This is your movement, Human Rights Campaign. The ugliness it is generating is not consistent with the civil rights movement you claim to want to represent. The underlying narrative of the MSM attacks on NOM generated by this document's release is absurd: The guts of the 'Not a Civil Right Project' was to reach out across lines of race, creed and party to work with great heroes like Sen. Rev. Díaz, Bishop George McKinney and other pastors at the Church of God in Christ (the largest black Pentecostal denomination), Bishop Harry Jackson, and other leaders in the black and Hispanic churches." - Brian Brownshirt, in a lengthy defense which largely quotes from the wingnut media.

Headline Of The Day II

Funny/sad.

Chris Meloni: The Kony Hunter

FRC: Christians Shouldn't Sell To Queers

PREVIEW: Broadway Bares XXII

The riotously raunchy Broadway Bares will stage its 22nd annual show at the Roseland Ballroom on June 17th. Always the hottest ticket of the year (no kidding), the event benefits Equity Fights AIDS and features the hottest bods that tread the boards of Broadway. This year's show has a fairy tales theme and the gentlemen above will deliver their version of Goldilocks & The Three Bears. Hit the below clip for lots more behind-the-scenes footage. Advance tickets here.

RELATED: You might also enjoy my photo/video coverage from last year and the year before.

Sen. Marco Rubio Endorses Romney

Notice how the Not-Romneys have quieted down over the last few weeks? It's all over but the Magic Underpants. Speaking of which, Rubio was raised Mormon.

Julian Bond: NOM Is Scary

(Via Good As You)

GOP Thwarts Repeal Of Big Oil Subsidies

Even though the major oil companies are turning in world record quarterly profits, today the GOP members of the Senate thwarted a bill to repeal their massive multi-billion dollar tax subsidies.

Senate Republicans, including Scott Brown of Massachusetts, today foiled President Obama’s plan to strip $24 billion in tax subsidies from the country’s largest oil companies, potentially fueling an election-year issue among voters disgruntled by escalating gas prices. The 51-47 vote was mostly along party lines. Most Democrats, including Senator John Kerry, voted in favor of eliminating the subsidies but fell far short of the 60 votes needed to withstand a filibuster. Only Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine, joined the Democrats. Four Democrats -- Jim Webb of Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Begich of Alaska -- voted against repealing the subsidies. Begich and Landrieu represent states with large oil revenues.

It's a win-win for the GOP. They get to pocket millions in Super PAC campaign dough via Big Oil donations AND they get to scream about the high price of gasoline.

UPDATE: Think Progress points out: "The 47 senators voting against the bill have received $23,582,500 in career contributions from oil and gas."

Jesus Is Preapproved

If you want mythological figures on your Capital One card, there are dozens of preapproved images to select from. But you want the simple stylized letter "A" that signals atheism, that's against the rules. Consumerist has more. (Tipped by JMG reader Kevin)

The Onion Takes On NOM Scandal

Excellent. (Tipped by JMG reader Elliot)

Here's Another Nasty Anti-Trans Ad From Alaska's Loving Christian Churches

Although the proposed bill in Anchorage would protect the entire LGBT community, God's Gentle People once again focus on the most vulnerable. Send the good guys some money.

Satan Is The Best Gay Activist EVER

"Everybody on both sides of this issue full well knows the implications, that these are two locomotives coming at each other and those two locomotives cannot exist on the same track on the same time, and one is the radical homosexual agenda and the other one is religious liberty. They cannot be in the same country at the same time. People at the upper levels on both sides full well know that, they are fully, clearly aware that religious liberties, the capacity to worship God as we do, will be shut down if the radical gay homosexual agenda actually succeeds. If I were Satan, this is key, if I were Satan, I would want to destroy the image of God on the planet. How do you do that? You’ve got to destroy the institution of marriage. If I were Satan I would want to destroy marriage on earth with divorce, I would want to destroy it with redefinition." - Three-time Hairpiece Olympics gold medalist Pastor Jim Garlow, once again declaring that Satan is orchestrating the gay marriage movement. (Via Right Wing Watch)

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Pastor Jim Garlow calls for an armed uprising against the nation's gay people. Pastor Jim Garlow claims that Prop 8 passed because he personally fasted and prayed for it. Pastor Jim Garlow claims that Christians who hate homosexuals will be rewarded with an eternal celestial orgy when they reach heaven.

TRAILER: Hellbound?

Clip description:

This is the teaser trailer for "Hellbound?", a feature-length documentary that takes an in-depth look at today's highly contentious debate over the Christian doctrine of eternal punishment. Does hell really exist, and if so, what factors determine who ends up there?

Scheduled for a limited release in September.

Russia Considers National Gay Ban

The Russian Parliament is considering a national version of the "don't say gay" bill that became law last month in St. Petersburg.

The bill calls for fines of up to 500,000 rubles ($16,500) for “spreading homosexual propaganda” among minors. The legislation was submitted Thursday to the State Duma by lawmakers from the central Novosibirsk region who blamed media for promoting gay lifestyles as “normal behavior.” The bill is similar to legislation adopted in February in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city. Gay rights activists say the legislation could be used to ban public demonstrations.

Backing the proposed national ban is the Russian Orthodox Church. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993.

What Would YOU Do With Half A Billion?

Fantasize away...

Gay Christians Confront MSNBC Host Chris Matthews For Hosting Tony Perkins

NOTE: The clip below has been replaced with a longer version that merits watching again if you've already seen the shorter one.

Clip description:

At a book signing in Framingham, Massachusetts, Faithful America members confront Chris Matthews about his consistently inviting Tony Perkins, President of the hate-group Family Research Council, on his show. Matthews responds by falsely claiming that Perkins never says homophobic things on his show, but when challenged that his invitations give legitimacy to what Perkins says outside the show, Matthews has no answer. Matthews also later claimed that every time Perkins is on, he's challenged. But Matthews never challenges Perkins on his long record of hateful lies about the LGBT community.

NASA Films Solar Tornado

Amazing and cool.

A giant solar tornado - five times the Earth's diameter - swirling at incredible speed of some 186,000 mph has been captured on video by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. ­This is the first time a giant solar twister has been caught on video. Solar tornadoes, known as solar prominences, are shaped by the sun's magnetic field and often occur during coronal mass ejections -- huge explosions of solar plasma. The speed of swirling solar gases can sometimes reach several thousand miles per hour.

Five entire Earths could fit inside that twister? Yikes.

Mark Bingham's Mom Fires Back

TMZ interviews Alice Hoagland, the mother of openly gay 9/11 hero Mark Bingham.

"Yes, my gay son was known in our family for bringing me flowers on my birthday and Mother’s Day. He also was known for careening down the rugby pitch, and, on the morning of September 11, 2001, for charging unarmed down the aisle of a doomed Boeing 757 to face knife-wielding Islamist thugs in a hijacked cockpit."

She adds, "No one among his pick-up team of fellow passengers was asking 'Are you straight? Are you gay?' No one doubted that a guy who weighed 220 and stood 6’4” tall - who could run over a charging opponent on the field, and ran with the bulls in Pamplona earlier that summer - would be an asset to a desperate group trying to overcome a threat onboard an airliner."

"The world has its share of strong, heroic gay men. Gay men in sports uniforms and military uniforms have been winning America’s games and fighting America’s battles for a long time: quietly, humbly, and in the face of vicious bigotry." "I hope you and I may have an opportunity to talk sometime. I prefer to believe you didn’t mean to offend. Good luck to you."

BAM! Also: Suh-NAP!

FOTF Launches Anti-Gay Obama Poll

Guess who dominates Focus On The Family's poll about President Obama? That's right. YOU do. Wars, threats of nuclear attacks, a crumbling global economy? PFFFT. Treating homerseckshuls like human beings is what the nation should REALLY be worried about.

Freedom To Marry Calls On GOP Candidates: Renounce NOM's Hate Pledge

"Now that NOM's race-baiting strategy of pitting American against American, minority against minority, and family members against family members is out in the open, we call on GOP candidates to renounce their NOM pledges. A president's job is to lead and unite the nation, not take part in a politics of division and cruelty. Anyone seeking the nation's highest office should not be affiliated with a group seeking to discredit the strong and clear voice of those African-American civil rights champions, such as John Lewis, Julian Bond, and Coretta Scott King, who have stood up for the freedom to marry and the equal civil rights of all people, including gay people of color." - Evan Wolfson, head of Freedom To Marry.

RELATED: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich all signed NOM's pledge to thwart the civil rights of LGBT Americans should they be elected. Included in that pledge is a vow to pursue an anti-gay amendment to the federal constitution.

NAACP Denounces NOM

"This memo only reveals the limits of a cynical agenda. The truth is that no group, no matter how well-funded, can drive an artificial wedge between our communities. People of color understand what it is like to be the target of discrimination. No public relations strategy will make us forget that." - NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, via press release.

Bill Donohue Vs Madonna (Again)

"She is what she is. Which means she is more than obscene—she’s a Catholic basher. Girl Gone Wild begins with Madonna reciting the first few lines of The Act of Contrition. She must know it’s Lent. Then she prances around to the backdrop of a light-show configured to resemble a cross. The guy who is shown wearing a crown of thorns is no doubt meant as another Easter present. The CD also features I’m a Sinner. With lyrics such as 'I’m a sinner, I like it that way,' Madonna makes it clear that she always has Catholicism on her mind: 'Hail Mary full of grace' is followed by a quip about Jesus, St. Christopher and St. Anthony. Madonna likes narcotics. She admits that MDNA was chosen to reference both her name and the drug MDMA; the line from I’m a Sinner about 'magic dust' was dropped to refer to the PCP drug by that name. The open-minded gang will not object to any of this. In their moral universe, Catholic bashing is cool; homosexual themes are beautiful; and drugs are fun." - Bill Donohue, writing on his Catholic League blog.

Headline Of The Day

"We're not seeing any impact," says Starbucks.

GOP Celebrates Obamacare Battle

Black Civil Rights Group Condemns NOM

From the National Black Justice Coalition:

NOM's memos detail its campaign to direct money to a handful of African American clergy in order to attack gay and lesbian couples that have made a lifelong promise to one another. The organization admits their key goal is to "drive a wedge between gays and blacks." The memo also outlines NOM's strategies for targeting Latino communities by "making support for marriage a key badge of Latino identity" and "to make opposition to gay marriage an identity marker, a badge of youth rebellion to conformist assimilation to the bad side of 'Anglo' culture."

"These documents expose NOM for what it really is-a hate group determined to use African American faith leaders as pawns to push their damaging agenda and as mouthpieces to amplify that hatred," says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. "NOM is fighting a losing battle," adds Lettman-Hicks. "With these memos made public, the black faith community must refuse to be exploited and refuse to deny their fellow brothers and sisters equal protections under the law."

Obama: I'm Sexy And I Know It

Carson Daly Apologizes To GLAAD

"We live in a time where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals find courage every day to overcome adversity, stand up to bullying and find equality. I'm truly saddened that my words today suggested otherwise. I've long been a supporter of Gay and Lesbian rights, and I'm saddened that my comments, however unintentional, offended anyone, specifically members of the LGBT community. The fact that I have hurt anyone is devastating. I'm not that guy. I'm proud to be an ally of the LGBT community and will continue to fight with them." - Carson Daly, in a statement delivered to GLAAD.

UAE: Men Jailed For Kissing

Two men have been sentenced to six months in prison after a witness claimed he saw them kissing on the streets of Abu Dhabi.

The two unnamed defendants again told court they were hugging each other while the European said he kissed his friend on the head as he was leaving the UAE. Their defence lawyer asked court to acquit them on the grounds the witness gave contradicting statements. The paper said a man who happened to be driving in the area saw the two hugging and kissing each other on the mouth. He told court that he was not first sure of what he had seen so he turned back and saw them kissing again. “The court sentenced them to six months in jail and ordered their deportation after serving their prison terms….they two were charged with committing an indecent act in a public place,” it said.

Open Thread Thursday

What's delicious? Share your latest recipes.

FRC: Pray Against Homosexual Tyranny

(Via Right Wing Watch)